


kiss, kiss, fall in love!

by cosmicdusts



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 7dream, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Found Families, Light Angst, Multi, OHSHC!AU, Romance, Slow Burn, bc thats the good shit, but doyoung is the teacher so are we surprised, host club, jeno being a relatable mess, rich and powerful dreamies, teacher's pet jeno, they're all just struggling in their own way and trying to help each other through it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-14 18:58:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20605715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicdusts/pseuds/cosmicdusts
Summary: »»————-　♡　————-««Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their timehere at the elite private school, ‘SM Academy’.The ‘Dream host club’ are where the school’s handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertainyoung ladies and gents, who also have way too much time on their hands.Just think of it as SM Academy’s elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful.»»————-　♡　————-««Jeno receives a scholarship to the elite private school, SM Academy, where he gets invited to the notorious Dream Host Club. There, he meets an elusive pink haired boy and a shy too-nice-to-be-real boy who... like him? Don't like him? Like each other? He can't tell.aka the OHSHC!au that no one asked for





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd just like to say this is only inspired by OHSHC. It's not that similar to the anime and you don't need to have seen it to read this (although the anime slaps, go watch it). This fic just uses the idea of a host club in an elite school. I just really wanted to write a powerful F4 type concept ever since I heard about dream's squad at SOPA. (also I've gone to suuuper pretentious schools for a lot of my life so this fic was written to mock the bourgeoisie) I hope you enjoy!!

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families

are lucky enough to spend their time here at the elite private school, ‘SM Academy’. 

The ‘Dream host club’ are where the school’s handsomest boys with too much time on their hands

entertain young ladies and gents, who also have way too much time on their hands. 

Just think of it as SM Academy’s elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

_ Deep breaths, Jeno. It’s just a new school. It’s going to be okay. _

Jeno looked past the tall black gates guarding the pristinely mowed acres of lawn laced with daffodils bobbing their heads gently in the breeze. In the distance, he could make out the red bricks of SM Academy standing proud against the skyline. There seemed to be building after building, after turret after turret, in what Jeno could only describe as property unnecessarily large and lavish for a school. He uneasily shifted from toe to toe. He was used to dingy spaces with questionable stains on walls and explicit graffiti in corners. He felt so out of place.

_ Come on Jeno. It’s going to be okay. _

After a final pat-down of his ridiculously expensive uniform and a chorus of mental reassurances to himself, he rings the bell on the silver panel near the gates. 07:05 - An hour before he was due to arrive. A voice through the receiver commands him to step back so the camera could scan his face. Jeno immediately obliges and sighs in relief when the voice then more gently says, “Welcome, Lee Jeno. Come sign in at reception” and the gates slowly creak open for him.

If Jeno was struck in awe by how grand the outside was, his jaw was permanently wedged open from gaping as he stepped inside. Cream coloured walls loomed up all around him, with pale dusted pink staircases winding around leading to different floors. The wooden floor gleamed, clearly having been freshly polished, reflecting light from the large glass chandelier hanging four floors above. Very few students were present, most having not arrived this early, and Jeno felt engulfed by the presence of space too large for so few people. He needed to find the reception to sign in as a new student but looking around he found 3 different corridors all leading in different directions, adding to the multiple staircases leading off to god knows where. He started to panic.

“Excuse me-“ he began walking towards a group of students who seemingly, having not heard him, said bye to each other at that exact moment and dispersed. Jeno sighed. It's okay, he’d just have to try asking someone else. This is why his mother had insisted he get here early. This was all in good time. Jeno looked around, finding the floor devoid of anyone save for the lone janitor in the corner, brushing the dust off the oil painting frames. He quickly looked down at his watch. 7:15. He still had 50 minutes and he didn’t want to bother the janitor who looked old and tired. Jeno decided it wouldn’t hurt to look around and explore a bit for himself. He shot a quick text off to his parents saying he’d reached safely before turning to the corridor nearest to him and setting off in its direction.

_ Bingo _ . After blindly and randomly turning left and right and backtracking more times than he could count, he finally saw a white sign with gold cursive lettering reading _ ‘Reception’ _ come into view. Jeno began to walk towards it, stopping when he heard a voice whimper from one of the classrooms he was passing by. Instinctively he frowned and stepped closer to the gap between the door which was slightly ajar, to look into the matter. Two boys were pressed impossibly close against each other with the taller one pushed against a wall on the opposite side as the shorter looped his arms around the taller's neck, fingers threading through his bubblegum pink hair as he tiptoed up to meet his mouth in heated kisses. Jeno’s face instantly flushed when he realised what he had heard. Ears crimson, he slowly backed away, about to leave, when the taller's eyes snapped open and he made sudden eye contact with Jeno. Jeno didn’t think he could get any redder. The boy smiled into the kiss, not once breaking eye contact with Jeno, completely unfazed and almost challenging him to see who would look away first. Horrified and embarrassed, Jeno stumbled back, hiding his face behind his hand and power walking away from the scene. He thought he heard a laugh as he left.

After signing in, one of the receptionists, her name-tag read Yeeun, gave him his timetable and talked him through the extra-curricular activities he could take. Jeno’s head was swimming, barely able to retain information about the scuba diving club, the aeronautical society, the harmonica band, the tea tasting society, and the other hundred names of school clubs that the lady had thrown towards him. This was so unlike the handful of standard clubs his old school had with the most adventurous being the lgbt+ alliance. He bowed lightly, thanking the receptionist for the information, only to see her eyes were focused on someone behind him.

“Master Zhong!” she exclaimed as a blonde-haired boy stepped past Jeno. Jeno eyed him curiously. He seemed around the same height as himself, but something about the way the boy walked and carried himself made him seem so much bigger and demanding of more attention.

The boy laughed, “I thought I told you to just call me Chenle.”

“Of course, Master Chenle” she bowed as Chenle rolled his eyes, still smiling.

“I came to drop this off,” Chenle said, sliding an envelope across the white marble reception desk. “It’s from my father.” Those words seem to trigger something and the entire reception staff immediately set to work processing whatever the contents of the envelope were. “And who is this?” Chenle turned, acknowledging Jeno for the first time, eyes giving him a once-over before his lips curved into a soft smile.

“Jeno Lee.” Yeeun beat Jeno to saying anything. “He’s a new transfer. I was just about to give him a tour.”

“Well, Jeno Lee,” Chenle drawled, his hand extending towards Jeno in the offer of a handshake. “I’m Zhong Chenle, its nice to meet you.” Jeno tentatively shook his hand, earning him the most saccharine smile he’d ever seen. “Don’t worry, I’ll show him around” Chenle quipped back towards the receptionist before nodding his head at Jeno to walk with him.

“Thank you-“ Jeno began.

Chenle laughed, a startlingly high-pitched and loud sound coming from his tiny frame. “Its no problem, Jeno.”

And just like that, Jeno felt more comfortable in this strange new environment. Chenle continued idly chattering to him about everything and anything as they walked around to see grandly decorated rooms and courtyards that Jeno couldn’t even have imagined in his wildest dreams. Jeno quickly learned that Chenle was in the year below him, that parents were scientists, and that he had a pet bunny named Bingsu. That immediately spurred Jeno to bring up his own three cats which made Chenle squeal, insisting he had to meet them someday. Just then, they came to a stop outside a classroom on the third floor.

“This is your first class, I think,” Chenle said, eyes squinting at Jeno’s timetable to confirm. “I really have to get going now, my organ teacher is going to chew me out if I’m late.”

Jeno thanked the blonde boy once more before stepping into the classroom that was still slowly filling with students in the few minutes before the bell.

Jeno’s eyes drifted around, freezing when he noticed a bubblegum haired boy sitting in the second row, whose familiar eyes were already looking right at Jeno. Jeno instantly flushed red, remembering the incident from earlier on this morning. Perched on the desk in front of him was a smaller boy with soft-looking brunette hair. Jeno recognised him as the second boy from the classroom earlier.

“Hello? Earth to Jaemin?” the shorter boy said, snapping his fingers in front of the pink-haired boy’s face, sighing when he didn’t respond, choosing instead to continue staring at Jeno with the same piercing gaze. The shorter boy slowly turned around, following Jaemin’s line of sight to Jeno. He cocked his head slightly; Eyebrows rising up in curiosity when he saw Jeno flushed red and frozen, staring at them from the door. Immediately snapping out of it, Jeno bent his head low to avoid their curious gazes and quickly walked to the back of the classroom, stumbling ungracefully over a chair leg in the process.

He quickly unpacked his stationery, taking a seat as the classroom filled with the last few students and the teacher walked in.

“Please quieten down. I know you have a lot to share about your exciting summer adventures but I’m tired and we have grades to get” drawled the teacher, Mr Kim Doyoung, who barely looked over the age of twenty-three – he was probably straight out of university. “Before I forget, we have a new student with us today.” Mr Kim’s eyes scanned over the class and Jeno quietly stood up and bowed. “Hi, I’m Jeno Lee,” he said softly before sitting quickly down again. He hated being the centre of attention, especially when so many eyes were watching him in such a scrutinising way. He didn’t need to look up to feel Jaemin’s gaze still focused on him long after everyone else’s had strayed.

“It’s a new year so let’s start off strong, okay?” Mr Kim said. “Open the chapter on Transition metals.” The lesson began and Jeno had no problem keeping up despite it being a difficult topic. That, he did expect - he was here on an academic scholarship after all. However, what he didn’t expect was to not be the best student in the classroom. He knew very well of SM Academy’s academic reputation but Jeno was used to being a big fish in a small pond. Suddenly being in a classroom where everyone seemed as good as, if not better than him, threw him off. Amidst that, a certain hand went up more than any other. The small brunette boy from earlier easily answered all the questions, finishing the work much quicker than anyone else and making Mr Kim beam. At some point, Jeno had peeked over to his notebook that was hanging off his desk only to see it covered in scribbles and Moomin doodles with only one or two bullet points of notes. It was a stark contrast to Jeno’s two pages of neatly colour-coordinated writing with annotated diagrams. Jeno frowned.

His inner crisis was suddenly interrupted as a fiery-haired boy burst through the door, doubled over and out of breath.

“You’re 20 minutes late, Mr Lee.” Mr Kim deadpanned, looking unimpressed.

The boy stood up straight and the breath was knocked out of Jeno. _ Was that-? No. It couldn’t be. Oh my god, it was. _Jeno’s younger sister was a big follower of Hallyu stars and Jeno could recognise the face from the posters on his sister’s bedroom wall - Lee Haechan, a rising idol and the nation’s boyfriend.

“Okay technically, I’m only 17 minutes late.” Haechan began, nodding towards the clock and slowly quietening down when the bored and uninterested look on Mr Kim’s face didn’t change. “I’m sorry. My photo-shoot overran.”

He bowed and quickly moved to the seat next to the bubblegum haired boy, Jaemin, who laughed quietly at him before passing him his notes to catch up on. Jeno’s head was reeling, no longer able to focus on the equations on the board. He knew SM Academy was for the elite, but he’d never expected to see an idol here. The lesson passed by in a blur and before he knew it everyone was pouring out the classroom on their way to their next lesson leaving Jeno panicking as he had no idea where to go.

“You look kinda lost there, are you okay?” asked a boy who towered above Jeno.

“I’m not quite sure where I’m going,” Jeno answered sheepishly.

“Don’t worry, I get it. When we all first got here, I remember half the class used to be late because everyone would get lost finding their way.”

That elicited a chuckle from Jeno.

“Jeno, right?” the boy asked, extending a hand towards him. “I’m Yukhei.”

Jeno gratefully accepted his handshake along with the offer of companionship. They both trudged out the classroom, getting introductions out of the way. Yukhei had the same next class as Jeno so he’d offered to walk with him. As they stepped out, they were pushed aside by a girl who was part of a forming crowd in the corridor, with a large gap in the middle where a handful of students were walking through.

“What’s happening?’ Jeno asked, curiously eyeing the crowd mobbing those in the middle.

Yukhei rolled his eyes. “Just a bunch of assholes who think too highly of themselves. Ignore them.”

Jeno frowned, peering through the crowd and immediately noticing familiar faces.

“Is that Chenle?”

“Who?” Yukhei asked peering in after him. “Oh, you mean Zhong? Since when were you on a first-name basis with him?”

“He showed me around this morning,” Jeno muttered quietly.

“What? _ The _Zhong Chenle gave you a tour?” Yukhei asked, surprise etched all over his features. He whistled low, “It’s your first day and you’ve already made some friends in high up places, Jeno.” Noticing Jeno’s confused expression, Yukhei continued. “Didn’t he tell you who his parents were?”

Jeno thought carefully back to their conversation this morning, “Yeah, he mentioned they were some kind of scientists?”

Yukhei laughed at him. “Wait, you’re not kidding?” he asked his eyes widening in disbelief. “His parents aren’t just scientists, Jeno… they own Asia’s biggest pharmaceutical company.” Now that Jeno thinks of it, the name ‘Zhong’ did ring a bell. “They’re major shareholders of the school - they basically own it.”

Jeno’s eyes widened, cringing as he thought back to proudly telling Chenle his parents owned an udon cafe. He remembered this morning when the reception staff had addressed him as Master Zhong. Jeno supposed he’d call him that too if he were the one paying his bills. He glanced back at the blonde-haired boy who was laughing loudly, hands ruffling through the hair of a lanky boy that Jeno hadn’t seen before. The boy shyly pulled away from Chenle’s touch making him laugh even harder. Chenle looked easy-going and carefree and… _ normal. _Nothing he’d have expected one of the richest boys in an already filthy rich school to be.

Yukhei followed his line of sight. “That boy next to him is Park Jisung.” Upon getting no reaction from Jeno, he rolled his eyes. “I’m really starting to think you live under a rock, Jeno.” He grinned. “That’s Lee Minji’s son and Lee Taeyong’s younger brother.”

Jeno gaped. Taeyong was the nation’s hottest trending actor right now and Lee Minji was basically an icon in the acting industry. Jeno couldn’t imagine coming from such an influential and nationally admired family.

“The boy standing next to them is-“

“Lee Haechan. I know.”

Yukhei narrowed his eyes at him, grinning slyly. “Look at you! Not so clueless after all. Didn’t peg you as the type to be into boy bands.” He teased.

Jeno reddened. “No, but my sister is.”

Yukhei hummed. “That’s fair. I’m pretty sure the entire female population of South Korea is in love with him. Actually, I once found a poster of him in my aunt’s house and she’s like forty-four so it's kinda weird-“

The rest of Yukhei’s words were lost on Jeno as his eyes caught those of a small brunette next to him. The same one he’d seen with Jaemin. The boy smiled at Jeno and waved shyly, before quickly looking away to continue whatever conversation Jaemin next to him seemed to be deeply immersed in.

“I see you’ve noticed Renjun.” Yukhei sighed dreamily. “His family’s monopolised the smartphone market. He’s rich, smart, polite, _ pretty _. Sometimes I wonder why someone as nice and down to Earth as him hangs out with the rest of them.”

“What’s wrong with the rest of them?”

Yukhei laughed. “Look at them. They act like they’re celebrities with their fan club following them everywhere.” Jeno looked around at the tens of boys and girls staring after the group with hearts in their eyes. He supposed Yukhei had a point.

“The worst of them all is Na Jaemin.” Yukhei scoffed.

The pink-haired boy before them winked at a few passing girls who immediately squealed.

“He’s the President’s son which means he’s not only rich but also has an inflated ego and considers people as political investments. I swear he looks at everyone like we’re below him.”

Jeno thought back to his icy stare and he couldn’t find it in himself to disagree.

“They hardly ever talk to anyone outside their clique. They probably think they’re too good for anyone else. Not to mention, they run the most notorious club in school.”

“Mafia roleplay society?” Jeno supplied, thinking back to the most ridiculous names on the list of clubs he’d seen in the welcome pack.

Yukhei laughed. “Damn, I forgot we had that. I’m pretty sure someone started that as an April Fools’ joke but the attendance was so high they kept it going. No, I’m talking about the ‘Dream Host club’.” He lowered his voice, tugging Jeno away from the crowd as if it was an improper thing to be caught saying.

“Dream Host club?” Jeno racked his mind, mentally skimming through Yeeun’s over-enthusiastic overview of societies in reception that morning. “I don’t remember hearing about that.”

“You wouldn’t have. It’s not exactly approved of by the school but Zhong’s in it so no teacher dares try to take it down.”

Jeno looked at the sweet blonde haired boy who’d been so excited to talk about a street cat he’d pet on the way to school. He couldn’t imagine him being a part of anything bad.

“No one knows where or when it is and invites are very exclusive and rare to come by. It’s been months since someone last got an invite and at this point, I’m almost convinced it’s a myth. But the rumour is that they get paid to sell fantasies to attendees by flirting with them and stuff.”

Jeno flushed crimson. “Well, I suppose I get why the school wouldn’t approve of that.”

Yukhei raised an eyebrow at Jeno. “I don’t know what you’re thinking of to be blushing that hard but I’m pretty sure all they do is sit around in some unnecessarily posh room and eat with and sweet-talk the attendees who then leave them lots of cash for getting to spending time with them. It’s a bit narcissistic if you think about it.”

Jeno flushed an even darker shade of red when he realised how impure his initial thoughts had been.

Yukhei laughed, dragging him to their next lesson, sports. He explained that the teacher, Mr Nakamoto, gave a lap for each minute you were late. “I swear he’s like the pinnacle of evil gym teachers. Every mean teacher you’ve ever met has just been practice and meeting him is like the final boss battle.” Yukhei shuddered.

Lunchtime rolled around soon enough; Jeno gaped as he walked into the school’s massive dining room with an unnecessary tall ceiling from which three large chandeliers hung. With the dark mahogany furniture and all the oil paintings, it looked like something straight out of Hogwarts. Thanks to Jeno’s new, overly hyperactive friend, he wasn’t left sitting alone like a loser. Yukhei immediately introduced him to “the rest of the Scooby gang!”

“I thought we agreed to not call us that, Xuxi.” A black-haired boy sighed resignedly; the same time another boy said “Eyyyyyyyy!”

“This is Xiaojun” Yukhei gestured to the first boy who’d spoken. He had sharp but somehow soft features, with a pair of thin-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. “Just called me Dejun,” he said, voice as soft as his features.

“That’s Mark.” Yukhei gestured to the other boy who had spoken just then. Mark waved to Jeno, attempting a muffled “hello” through a mouthful of food. Jeno’s eyes caught on to the shiny blue badge pinned against his crisp uniform reading_ ‘Class Prefect’ _.

“And this is Jungwoo.” The boy named Jungwoo stuck up a peace sign, batting his eyelashes.

“Are you guys seriously gonna ignore me?” Another boy from the end of the table piped up.

Dejun hummed.

The boy rolled his eyes. “I’m Yangyang. It’s nice to see a new face. One more day of seeing Xuxi’s face again and I might just have thrown up.” Yukhei sat down next to Yangyang elbowing him in mock-offence.

“Hi” Jeno smiled shyly. “I’m-“

“Jeno. We know.” Yangyang replied.

Jeno frowned in confusion.

“Apparently Zhong walked with you this morning and Renjun waved to you. Dude, like, the entire school is talking about it.” The boy named Mark spoke, stars shining in his eyes as he looked at Jeno with awe.

“Mark-yah, close your mouth you’re going to catch flies.” Jungwoo quipped, smiling sweetly.

“I don’t know what you see in them.” Yukhei piped up again.

“I don’t!” Mark immediately defended. “They just seem like really nice people; I feel like they’re just misunderstood.”

Dejun rolled his eyes. “You’re just saying that because you have a fat crush on a certain red-haired boy who hangs out with them.”

Mark started sputtering. “That is _ not _ true! I’ve never even spoken to Donghyuck!”

“Dude, it’s chill.” Yukhei drawled, in a monotonous tone like he was used to having this conversation daily. “You’re not the only one bro, I think my aunt has a thing for him too.”

Mark stuttered, tripping over his words, flushing almost as red as Haechan’s hair as he listed off all the reasons he most certainly did _ not _like the idol.

Xiaojun turned to Jeno, letting Mark and Yukhei’s bickering fade to the background. “Ignore them, they’re idiots.” He sighed fondly.

Jeno laughed, thinking back to his friends at his old school. He missed them. “You guys seem very close.”

“We’re like a family.” Xiaojun smiled this time.

Jeno’s heart filled with warmth at the words. He wondered if he’d feel the same sense of belonging one day.

Jeno had missed, not one, not two, but _ three _ alarms. It had only been two weeks into the school year but his teachers had already started setting inhumane amounts of work and Jeno couldn’t help but feel dumb when he wasn’t easily sailing through classes as the best student like he used to. He’d stayed up all night doing extra chemistry work, vowing to not fall behind in the next lesson. At some point, words and diagrams had blurred together and he’d let his vision dim to black as his subconscious continued to balance equations. Five hours and a string of failed alarms later, he’s trying to gain his bearings as he rises from a puddle of drool on his desk, arms splayed across the now-folded pages of his textbook. His sister snickers at him from the doorway of his room, saying something about how he looked like a loser but right now Jeno doesn’t _ care _ because he’s _ finally _ awake enough to process the numbers on his watch and – _ fuck, _ _ he’s late. _

He jolted up from the desk chair he fell asleep on, groaning a little as a sudden pain shot through his back from the uncomfortable position he’d lain in. Throwing on his uniform, barely bothering to comb his hair or smooth his collar out, he ran downstairs. He had no idea what the detention policy was at SM Academy, but as a scholarship student who was attending for free, he figured he shouldn’t push his luck with breaking school rules and attendance. He ran out, forgetting to grab breakfast, ignoring his sister yelling expletives after him for slamming the door. His parents were already gone, leaving early to open the café and he supposed it was better that way as they definitely would have lectured him if they’d seen him crumple the school uniform that had cost them a small fortune.

He pulled up to the school gates panting, cursing when they were closed, ringing reception and wheezing out some excuse about traffic. It was Yeeun’s voice that answered Jeno through the receiver and she must have taken pity on how much of a mess he sounded and looked through the camera as she let him in with few questions, not even asking him to sign in for lateness.

On his way to his classroom, he accidentally collided with the elderly janitor who had been minding his own business. The bucket of water he’d had with him was now strewn against the floor, making a small pond. Jeno bowed ten times expressing how sorry he was and used his hands to try and mop the water back into the bucket, somehow only managing to make the pond bigger. He only left when the janitor begged him to go because “you’re causing more damage, please just leave”.

His day literally couldn’t get worse. He’d have to walk into class late now, shirt buttoned diagonally, hands wet from floor water, and everyone would turn to look at him and he _ hates _when everyone looks at him.

He skipped up the stairs, two steps at a time and very much out of breath by the time he reached the top. He speed-walked to where his lockers were (yes, SM gave students multiple lockers), frowning when he found the corridor dense with students whispering amongst one another. _ Weren’t they meant to be in class? _ _ Maybe they were all just late like Jeno was? _

He took another step forward, looking down in discomfort when he suddenly noticed the crowd slip into silence as all eyes turned to watch his every move.

Jeno knew he looked a bit chaotic right now but he hadn’t thought it had been bad enough for everyone to be staring. The crowd slowly parted for him as he walked towards his lockers, his hands fidgeting nervously from all the attention. He quickly tried to wipe his wet palms against his trousers, only causing more damage as two hand-shaped damp patches now sat against the grey fabric. He looked up, now _ certain _everyone was watching him. In the crowd, he caught Mark’s eyes that were staring at him in silent shock.

He soon realised why.

Straight ahead of him, a pink envelope had been taped to the front of his locker, with heart print washi tape. Jeno could smell the rose-scented paper from all the way over here. Everyone looked at him expectantly.

Jeno had left his glasses at home.

He coughed awkwardly, shuffling closer and squinting to make out the words.

Oh.

_ Oh _.

His day now _ definitely _ couldn’t get any worse.

His eyes skimmed over the words printed on the front.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

_ Dream Host Club Invitation _

_ Recipient: Jeno Lee _

»»————- ♡ ————-««

His body chose that particular moment to mourn the breakfast he had missed. With fifty eyes trained on him and a supposedly once in a blue moon kind of invitation in his hand, his stomach rumbled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. Jeno is a mess. Please save him.
> 
> Comments make me very happy!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeno meets the host club

»»————- ♡ ————-««

“Let me read it again,” Mark said, reaching out his hand to take the pink paper from Jeno. “Jeno this makes  _ no sense, _ ” he whined.

“I understand it less than you do,” Jeno replied sombrely. “I mean, why me? Everyone knows I’m a scholarship student, it’s not like I can pay them.”

“Are we sure it wasn’t some kind of mix-up?” Yangyang supplied unhelpfully. “Maybe they meant Lee Jenny? I feel like I know a Lee Jenny."

“It was on his locker.” Yukhei deadpanned.

“Oh my god, Jeno it was meant for you.” Yangyang gasped.

“Congratulations on stating the only thing we already understand,” Xiaojun said, unimpressed.

“I wonder who sent it?” Jungwoo spoke for the first time then. All heads turned to look at him. “I heard that each member gets to invite one person a year. So that invitation must be from one of them specifically.”

Jeno groaned. “But  _ who? _ I don’t even know them."

“Maybe Zhong?” Mark quipped. “He has talked to you before, right?”

“I’ve barely seen Chenle around since. I’m starting to think he was just being nice out of obligation.” Jeno replied. 

“Maybe Renjun then?” Yukhei sulked. Jeno’s mind thought back to the small boy who’d been smiling at him and softly waving each time Jeno had looked his way this week. Then again, he’d seen him smile at everyone who looked at him.

“I don’t think so.” Jeno shook his head. 

“What if it’s Haechan who invited you?” Now it was Mark’s turn to sulk.

“I don’t think he even knows I exist, to be honest.”

“It wouldn’t matter if it was Haechan. Right, Mark? It’s not like you like him.” Xiaojun smiled, knowing he had him cornered.

“Of course not! It’s okay if it’s Haechan!” Mark exclaimed in defence. “In fact, I definitely think it’s him and I am very happy for Jeno!”

Mark wasn’t slick. After spending a week with them Jeno understood why they all looked so tired every time Mark would bring up the idol all by himself and then insist he definitely didn’t care about him. Just last Tuesday, Jeno had picked up Mark’s phone, which had been lying on the table, to check the time. The lock-screen had been set as a picture of Haechan from a fan meeting, bunny ears placed on his head and a bright smile adorning his face. Jeno had barely had time to process the photo before Mark had snatched the phone away from him, panicking and excusing himself to an A cappella group rehearsal. Last time he had checked, Mark wasn’t even a part of the A cappella group. The day after that, Mark’s lock-screen had been changed to a generic picture of a sandy beach and it was almost like the previous day had never happened.

Jeno sighed, reading over the letter once more.

»»————-———— ♡ ————————-««

_Dear Jeno Lee,_

_You are hereby invited to attend Dream Host Club._

_Wednesdays and Fridays 4:15pm._

_Fifth floor._

_ Password: Your best pick-up line ;)_

»»————-———— ♡ ————————-««

It was that vague. According to Dejun, the school didn’t even have a fifth floor. Friday was tomorrow and he was still in two minds about the whole situation.

“Maybe this is some kind of practical joke. I’m just going to ignore it, it’ll probably blow over soon.” Jeno said. Mark protested to this; the same time, Jungwoo nodded in agreement. 

Jeno kept seeing Renjun that day. He didn’t know why, but they kept bumping into each other. At first, they’d bumped into each other in the toilets, and then in the corridor, and once more in an art classroom that Jeno had accidentally walked into and caught Renjun painting in with earphones in. Each time, Renjun had just given him that small shy smile again along with a wave or a nod of his head before he turned away from Jeno to continue with whatever he had been doing.

It was in their last period; Jeno had finally managed to finish the work before Renjun, grinning in pride as Mr Kim beamed at him. Renjun turned to look at Jeno then and for the first time regarded him with more than just a small smile of politeness and vague interest. He really  _ looked  _ at Jeno, a new curiosity in his eyes, as he mindlessly played with Jaemin’s hand who had his fingers tangled with his. He didn’t smile at Jeno this time but somehow Jeno felt like a winner. 

Mr Kim had let him leave early as he’d finished all the set work, and Jeno tried to avoid all the gazes on him as he slowly packed up and walked out of the classroom. He still had half an hour left of the school day before his bus would arrive and he considered going to the library to take out some books. Just then, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around in curiosity, he found Renjun walking out of the classroom too, his backpack weighing down on his small shoulders.

“Hey… Jeno Lee, right?” He asked.

Jeno stood there gaping at him. This was the first time he’d spoken to him and he supposed he understood why Yukhei and half the school were ready to drop everything for the boy. With a voice as soft as his smile, it was hard to not stop and notice him.

The boy cocked his head slightly and Jeno realised he’d just been standing there staring. 

“Yes! Jeno! That’s me. Jeno.” He replied, mentally slapping himself for being so awkward.

Luckily for him, Renjun didn’t seem to think much of it. “I’m Huang Renjun.” The boy stepped forward and extended a hand. In turn, Jeno panicked and slapped the hand lightly like he was going in for a sideways high-five instead of the handshake Renjun had obviously meant for. 

_ Stop it, Jeno. You’re embarrassing us.  _ His thoughts unhelpfully supplied.

Renjun stared at Jeno like he’d sprouted two heads, the same curiosity that had been there earlier in his gaze.

“Okay…” the boy began, drawing back his hand and trying to salvage the awkward situation Jeno had made. “I was just wondering if you were going to come tomorrow?”

“Come where?” 

Renjun stared at him like he was trying to figure out if Jeno was naturally this dumb or if he was just forgetful.

It clicked then. Oh.  _ Oh _ .

“Oh.” Jeno squeaked out. He wanted to say a hundred different things. He wanted to say how he didn’t really know any of the hosts and would feel uncomfortable. How he couldn’t afford to pay them. How he didn’t really understand the concept of the club if he was being honest. How he’d promised his dad he’d help out at the café after school tomorrow and he didn’t have time.

Renjun continued to stare at him, something like a glimmer of hope in his eyes and Jeno just said, “Yes.”

It was only when he got home and had promptly recited the whole encounter to Mark over the phone that he realised he had some very large gaps in this plan.

“Dude. You should have asked him about the fifth floor.” Mark’s voice came through his phone speaker.

“You think I don’t know that?” Jeno groaned.

He spent three hours helping his parents in the café and explaining to them that he wouldn’t be free tomorrow because of a ‘study group’. He was beginning to feel his cheeks cramp from the customer service smile his parents had taught him to plaster on his face whenever we worked there. It was exhausting but Jeno liked working at the café. It was mindless labour to cut the vegetables and help cook before serving the steaming bowls of noodles, and right now, Jeno desperately wanted to think less. By the time he finally retired to his room, he crashed against the mattress, schoolwork pushed to the back of his mind.

Morning-Jeno didn’t agree with the choices of 10pm-and-sleepy-and-tired-Jeno because he had a whole page of homework due in an hour and Jeno was nothing if not a people-pleaser. If Google-translating Latin last minute on the bus to school were an Olympic sport, Jeno would have a gold medal. He hobbled through the gates and up the walk to the school entrance, pen and paper balanced precariously against a single raised knee as he continued to scribble translations that he was mostly just guessing at this point. The day passed by in a blur. It was only when the bell rang signalling the end of lessons for the day and Mark walked over to bang his books against Jeno’s desk that he remembered about Renjun and the heavily scented pink letter that was acting as an air freshener in one corner of his bedroom. It was 4pm. They had fifteen minutes to find the fifth floor that supposedly didn’t exist.

“I’ve been thinking.” Mark began. “What if it’s like some sort of code to stop just anyone from reading your invitation and leaking the location?”

Jeno hummed as he walked side by side with Mark out of their classroom on the fourth floor. He supposed that could be plausible. “What could it be code for though?” he asked, looking over at Mark when he noticed the boy still. Jeno followed Mark’s gaze up to where it was focused on the sign of the classroom straight ahead of them.  _ ‘5F’. _

“Isn’t that a theatre practice room?” Jeno asked.

Mark turned back to him eyes gleaming. “Exactly.”

Jeno frowned, eyes squinting slightly as he desperately tried to follow Mark’s train of thought. The Prefect was already walking ahead of him.

“It’s a theatre room, Jeno! That means it has a stage.” Mark exclaimed like it was obvious. “A theatre room on the  _ fourth floor _ has a stage, which is technically  _ one floor higher. _ ”

Jeno’s mind was reeling. They stopped just outside of room 5F’s door about to walk in when Mark’s hand rested over Jeno’s on the handle, to stop him from twisting it open. Mark gestured through the small window in the door to a tall boy, Jisung if Jeno remembered correctly, who was walking up the steps to the stage. He opened a door leading backstage and then he disappeared. Mark laughed in disbelief, clearly not having expected to have been right in his guess. The two of them followed Jisung’s path to the door he disappeared into. However, when they tried opening it, it didn’t budge, seemingly locked.

“Password?” a muffled voice drawled from the other side.

Jeno’s eyes widened. He’d completely forgotten about that. He thought back to the words on the pink paper. 

_ Password: Your best pick-up line ;) _

He groaned mentally. “Y-your best pick up line?” he replied to the voice. He knew that’s not what the words had meant but it was worth a shot. There was no reply and Jeno knew the voice wasn’t having any of it. Sighing, he tried again, thinking back to the numerous vomit-inducing lines he’d heard his sister whisper into her phone to her boyfriend at 2am when she thought no one could hear her.

“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” Jeno said the first line he could remember.

The door swung open and on the other side stood a very unimpressed, very unbothered-looking Lee Haechan.

“No, but I did scrape my knees when I crawled up from Hell,” he replied without missing a beat. “Your lines are no fun, Jeno Lee.” 

Jeno flushed red. The first time he’d ever interacted with the idol and the words he’d had thrown at him was “no fun, Jeno Lee”. His sister would cry if she heard about this.

Haechan took out a sticker with Jeno’s name neatly written in calligraphy. He grabbed a pen from nearby and messily scrawled on ‘jam’ to the end of his name so that it read “ _ Jeno _ jam”. He smiled, seemingly satisfied with his handiwork and smirked as he handed it to Jeno. “Welcome to Dream Host Club, Jeno,” He said in a misleadingly saccharine tone. “I’m Haechan but something tells me you already know that,” He smirked confidently at Jeno who had been not so subtly staring at him in awe. 

He turned then, seemingly for the first time noticing Mark who was frozen behind Jeno, face as red as a tomato. Haechan raised an eyebrow at him and hesitated as if he was trying to remember if Mark was meant to be there. “Password, Mr Prefect?” he finally asked, turning to face Mark.

Jeno turned to look at his friend who looked one word from Haechan away from combusting on the spot. “Fuck, you’re pretty.” Mark blurted, eyes widening when he realised what he had said. Jeno mentally facepalmed.

Haechan now looked as red as Mark, his composure crumbling for a second, neither of them had expected something so straightforward. He schooled his expression back to one of lazy confidence and cleared his throat. “You’re lucky Jeno set the bar for pick up lines very low today.” Jeno cringed.

Haechan scribbled Mark’s name onto another sticker, with  _ much  _ neater handwriting Jeno noticed. He even went as far as tacking on a heart at the end before handing it to Mark who looked like his soul had left his body at that very moment because  _ The _ Lee Haechan knew his name. Haechan gestured to both of them to follow him up the winding stairs behind him.

“Wait. I don’t have an invitation.” Mark finally seemed to have regained his voice. Trust the Prefect to want to follow rules even when it came to an illegal society.

Haechan paused, seemingly considering Mark’s word’s for a moment before he hopped back down the stairs and rummaged about in the draw of the table next to them. He pulled out a pink, rose-scented slip of paper and quickly scribbled on it before pushing it towards Mark. “Now you do,” He smirked, before turning away to skip up the stairs.

Mark and Jeno followed him up, silence hanging over them as Haechan babbled away about how it had been such a long time since someone new joined and how he had almost been getting bored. 

Jeno figured this part of the school had been off-limits to all other students, courtesy to Chenle’s influence, as no one seemed to even know it existed. At the top of the stairs were two large mahogany doors, a gold plate nailed to the front of one, engraved with the lettering “ _ Dream _ ”. Haechan pushed open the doors to reveal a large room with floor to ceiling windows and intricate designs on the ceiling. There were elegant tables spaced out with futons arranged around them and delicate sets of china balanced atop of their glass surfaces. A handful of boys and girls alike were scattered across the space, drinking tea and laughing along with the hosts. Their faces seemed familiar, Jeno recognising some as models.

Looking around, Jeno could quickly grasp how this worked. In one corner sat Jisung, shyly mumbling something and smiling in such a sweet and innocent way that all the people around him cooed, with one girl even reaching out to pinch his cheeks. Some distance away from him was Chenle, sitting cross-legged on a separate futon as he loudly recounted a story in between sucks of a lollipop, before bursting out into that free-spirited, high-pitched laughter of his that had those around him instantly smiling too, looking at him with bright eyes. In another corner of the room was an empty futon, surrounded with girls that were now looking their way, their hands grasped around albums that were waiting to be signed. Jeno figured that’s where Haechan usually sat. They each had a different charm to them, appealing to different people.

What caught Jeno’s interest the most though, was how right in the centre of the room was Jaemin leaning lazily against a futon with Renjun lying with his head in his lap as Jaemin ran his fingers through the boy’s hair. Their close proximity reminded Jeno of his first day in school where he’d seen them pressed up against each other, kissing in an empty classroom. Jaemin said something then that made the boy lying on him blush and the crowd around them erupted into squeals. A boy sitting next to them whispered something to Jaemin who replied with a wink and a finger heart, earning even more squeals. Renjun watched Jaemin flirting with the other boy, simply smiling fondly. Jeno didn’t understand it at all.

“Well, this is where I leave you Jeno,” Haechan announced, his hand moving to circle Mark’s wrist who looked ready to pass out.

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“Guests usually sit with whoever invited them. Mark’s mine but you’re not so,” he made a shooing gesture with his hands.

Jeno was genuinely concerned for Mark who at this point looked like he might just throw up from the words  _ “Mark’s mine”. _

“But I don’t know who invited me,” Jeno replied in a small voice.

That immediately piqued the idol’s interest. “You don’t?” he asked, genuine amusement glinting in his eyes. Jeno shook his head. For a second, Jeno thought it might have been Haechan who sent him the invite when he’d opened the door for him but the boy had just told him it wasn’t.

“Was it Chenle?” Jeno asked.

“Was it  _ Chenle?”  _ Haechan parroted, laughing loudly. “Oh boy. This is more interesting than I thought it would be.” He flashed Jeno a smile full of mischief. “Why don’t you go find out?” Just like that, he pulled a very flustered Mark away, leaving Jeno to stand by himself.

Jeno could feel Jaemin’s gaze shift to focus on him, the same intensity as always. He ignored him, taking small steps towards Chenle who looked happy to see Jeno but also genuinely surprised. The blonde-haired boy leapt up from where he was sitting to hug him. Some people around them pouted in jealousy. Jeno could feel Jaemin’s gaze still burning into his back.

“Jeno! I haven’t seen you around!” Chenle said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

Jeno smiled, pulling away from the hug. Before he could answer, he felt a touch from behind him as an arm circled around his waist. Jeno squeaked in surprise, turning slightly to find himself awfully close to Jaemin’s face. Jaemin was looking at Chenle, a small smile playing on his lips. “Now, now, Chenle. What did we say about stealing each other’s guests?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dun
> 
> sorry this chapter is kind of short. i originally planned for it to be like twice this length but i figured shorter more frequent updates were better than longer ones that took me more time.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos literally make my day ♡


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The more Jeno learns about Jaemin and Renjun, the less he understands

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Jeno gawked.  _ Na Jaemin _ had been the one to invite him? He hadn’t even entertained that possibility. His next guess was going to be Renjun. The  _ president’s son  _ who had never even spoken to him gave his once-a-year invite to Jeno? Renjun also walked over to them then, smiling as he ruffled Chenle’s hair before sticking his tongue out at him. “Yeah Chenle, leave our boy alone,” he whined.

Jeno’s head snapped up to look at him.  _ ‘Our boy’?  _ Jeno thinks he understands why Mark looked like he was about to pass out earlier. It had never occurred to Jeno that maybe the two of them sent invitations together but from how they were the only ones to share a futon and how their small crowd played into their palms, watching them flirt with each other as much as they flirted with them, he supposed it made sense. They were a package deal.

However, none of that did anything to explain  _ why him _ .

The hour passed by before he could blink. He’d migrated to the sofas around Jaemin and Renjun’s table after light coaxing from Renjun who’d said, “Please?” and made puppy eyes at Jeno, and really, who could say no to that?

They’d talked, mostly. Renjun had laughed at the label Jeno was wearing, making it a point to call him  _ Jenojam _ every time he spoke to him. He was sweet and attentive and polite but also witty and loud and sharp with his words. He was like the Renjun he saw around the school, but next to Jaemin he was also so much more than that.

And Jaemin… Jeno still couldn’t figure him out. A girl sitting near Jeno dropped the book she was holding and Jaemin made a show of picking it up for her, making sure his hand lingered on hers as he gave it back. She froze and he smiled, tucking a stray hair behind her ear making her blush fiercely. The entire time, Jaemin had made sure to keep eye contact with Jeno. Jeno couldn’t figure him out at all. Unlike Renjun who was a part of the art club and helped tutor younger students, making everyone swoon over how kind he was, Jaemin kept to himself. No one seemed to know much about him and so people talked that much more to fill the gaps in their knowledge with gossip. He’d heard the rumours around the school; it was hard not to have. Jaemin is a snob. Jaemin thinks he’s better than everyone. Yukhei’s own voice rung in his head  _ “he has an inflated ego and considers people as political investments”.  _ For every bad comment made about Jaemin, there were ten good ones - However, all of those had been made by very smitten and biased students and so Jeno had never really known which side to believe. But sitting here right now, Jeno thinks both sides were a little bit right and a little bit wrong.

Jaemin was kind but he was also flirty. He was smooth with his words and everything he said was calculated to gain a reaction. He was so constantly guarded. Jeno meant that metaphorically but at some point, a tall, buff man in a black suit and with a headset on had come in with coffee that he handed to Jaemin. That was the first time Jeno had seen Jaemin smile so freely.

“Jaehyun!” the boy had shouted, jumping up to plant a wet kiss on the man’s cheek who immediately pushed him away and wiped his cheek. Jaemin laughed. Jeno thought with a laugh that pretty he should really laugh more.

“This is the last time I’m going on a coffee run for you; I am not your butler.” The man hissed.

Jaemin continued staring at the man fondly.

“Who is that?” Jeno whispered to the girl next to him.

Jaemin had somehow heard him and whipped his head round to Jeno. “He’s my butler.”

“I am your  _ bodyguard, _ ” the man nagged.

Jaemin ignored him in favour of sipping his coffee. Jeno tried to wrap his head around the fact that the boy had a personal bodyguard but he supposed that made sense - he was the president’s son after-all. Amidst all the casual flirting and subtle touches, it was easy to forget just how powerful he ranked nationally.

“Do you want some, Injunnie?” Jaemin asked, turning to Renjun and holding out his coffee cup. The smaller boy pretended to gag and made a point of picking his teacup back off the table and taking a long sip. Jaemin rolled his eyes, smiling. That was the second time Jeno saw Jaemin smile so freely.

Jaemin turned to Jeno then, making him jerk in surprise. “What about you, Jeno?” he purred, holding out the straw of the cup. Jeno noticed Renjun watching them with an amused smile. He didn’t see why not so he bent down, taking a quick sip, breaking away to grimace at the bitter taste swirling around his tongue.

Renjun laughed at him, pouring him tea. “I keep telling him it tastes like shit but he never listens.” 

Jaemin brought his mouth over the straw that Jeno had just had in his own mouth, its tip still wet from his saliva. Jaemin swirled his tongue around the plastic and sipped slowly before pulling back smirking. “I like how it tastes though,” He said, gaze burning into Jeno.

Jeno spluttered over a mouthful of Jasmine tea at the implication of Jaemin’s words and his bodyguard rolled his eyes.

Sneaking past students to slip into classroom 5F and muttering a cheesy pickup line quickly became part of Jeno and Mark’s routine. Mark became bolder with his lines every time Haechan answered and Jeno… Jeno was just as bad. He watched Haechan look at him with a pained expression as he said, “Can you take me to the doctor? Because I think I just broke my leg falling for you.” That day Haechan underlined the no in his ‘ _ Je no jam _ ’ sticker label. It almost became fun to annoy him with his lines each time and Jeno had started putting in research, keen to get as big a reaction as possible from the idol.

He knocked.

“Password?” drawled a voice.

“Do you know what material my jumper is made of?” Jeno asked.

“…Should I?” replied the voice and at the same time another voice said “Cashmere?”

Jeno definitely didn’t own any cashmere. “Boyfriend material,” He finished off the line with a dazzling smile and jazz hands for good measure. The door swung open except it wasn’t Haechan on the other side this time. Renjun stood there looking like he wanted to un-hear the past five minutes of his life while Jaemin just gave him a once-over, eyes raking painfully slowly over his body before he grinned. “I can see that,” he smirked.

Jeno was immediately reduced to a blushing mess. He was like that a lot with Jaemin. He knew the boy didn’t mean any of what he said – Jeno had seen him throw around that same effortless smile and those same smooth lines to everyone in a five-metre radius of him. And just like everyone else, Jeno forgot how to function each time it happened to him. He felt embarrassed but sue him - he wasn’t yet used to pink-haired sons of presidents flirting with him just because they were bored and they could. Actually, Jeno wasn’t used to anyone flirting with him but Jaemin did it as naturally as he breathed.

To add to his inner crisis, the small brunette boy that was basically attached to Jaemin at the hip, never seemed to bat an eye when he flirted with other people. If anything, he looked amused each time Jeno started stuttering because of Jaemin. In fact, Renjun too had become really good at rendering Jeno speechless. Where Jaemin did it with lingering touches and burning gazes, Renjun did it by passing him cute notes with smiley faces in class and paying more attention to him than any other guest in the host club. The more it happened the more confused Jeno became.

“Are Renjun and Jaemin dating?” He asked one day abruptly cutting into a conversation Yangyang and Yukhei had been having about the Avengers.

“Where is this coming from?” Yangyang asked suspiciously at the same time Yukhei looked dejected.

Jeno shrugged, thinking back to them kissing in the classroom, to their intertwined hands in lessons, to them practically splayed over each other in the host club. “Just curious.”

“I don’t think so.” Yangyang hummed, looking thoughtful. “At least not that I’ve heard of.”

Now that was news to Jeno.

Yangyang laughed looking at his surprised expression. “Yeah, a lot of people wonder the same thing because they act so close and keep their relationship status ambiguous but I think that’s just their dynamic. It's like how Yukhei here can’t keep his eyes off me but that doesn’t mean anything.”

Yukhei pretended to gag at that.

“I low-key think they act like that for the publicity,” Yukhei added. Jeno couldn’t disagree that whatever they had going on or not going on definitely brought them hoards of fans.

Yangyang nodded. “In this school, all publicity tends to be good publicity and it's especially good publicity when the headlines pair Renjun with the president’s son. The last time an article was released about them, Huang Electronics’ stocks went up ten per cent.” He showed the graphs he’d pulled up on his phone to Jeno and honestly, to him they just looked like squiggles of green and red but Yangyang looked at them with reverence in his eyes. “You can’t deny it’s a smart move.”

“Besides, they’ve never really gone any further than holding hands and casual flirting,” Yukhei hummed.

Jeno paused chewing on his gimbap, looking up to search their eyes for any form of doubt or dishonesty but both of them looked entirely convinced.

Renjun’s moans and Jaemin’s swollen lips flashed across his mind. He didn’t know if he should tell them that Jeno had seen them  _ definitely _ go further than that.

This new piece of the puzzle should have given Jeno some clarity. It should have answered his questions about why they both seemed perfectly okay hitting on other people and why they flirted with each other like they were performing for a crowd. But with each question that was resolved, two others popped up in its place. Jeno was getting a headache.

And so he did what he always did when thinking became too much to deal with. He flung his rucksack onto his bed and went to help out at his parents’ café.

It was a relatively quiet Thursday evening. Not many customers usually came around this time and Jeno had no complaints about that. He pulled out his history textbook onto the counter, letting his mind skim over the words in a brainless sequence. There was a jingling sound as the door opened.

Jeno immediately looked up, his customer service smile already on his face.

“Hi and welcome to NCT café. What can I get for you today?” he asked. 

The first warning bell should have been that this man’s face and voice was vaguely familiar even though Jeno couldn’t place where he’d seen him before. The second warning bell should have been when the man asked if he could use the private booth they had reserved near the back of their café for when celebrities came. It wasn’t uncommon for them to get high profile customers. Their café was in a quiet but scenic location and most people who came there came to get away from a crowd. When Jeno agreed to his request, the man immediately spoke into his phone and the third warning bell should have been when two boys who looked vaguely around Jeno’s age stepped into the café, black masks covering their face and hoods pulled up around them, as they followed the man to the room Jeno had closed off for them at the back.

Jeno decided to give them some time to settle in and look at the menu. When he finally walked to the backroom to take their orders, he froze by the door seeing the boys pull their masks off. Renjun and Jaemin were sitting there, leisurely thumbing through the menu. They both looked so intimate with Renjun’s head resting on Jaemin’s shoulder.

“What do you want to eat Jaehyun?” Jaemin spoke to the man hovering near them who shook his head saying he couldn’t eat while he was on duty.

Of course, that man had looked familiar.  _ Of course. _

_ _

The pair continued leafing through the menu, stopping occasionally to marvel at the food. Jeno stood there frozen.

Their conversation quickly started turning away from what to eat. That was the third time Jeno had seen Jaemin smile so freely. He was making silly faces and doing aegyo and he was just  _ so _ different from how he was at SM Academy. It was like in the privacy of the four walls where the weight of everyone’s eyes was no longer weighing down on him, he finally let go and breathed a little lighter and laughed a little louder and spoke without thinking too much, knowing that those around him wouldn’t dissect and analyse his every word. He was radiant and Jeno kind of felt bad that the boy didn’t feel comfortable enough to be like that around him. Their conversation changed topic again and this time Jaemin dropped his voice to just above a whisper until Jeno could only pick up on a few fragments of his sentences.

_ _

_ “Say…”  _ Jaemin began, turning to look at Renjun with teasing eyes. “ _ What do you think of Jeno?”  _

Jeno became painfully aware then that this was meant to be a private conversation. People only ever talked about others behind their back when they were trying to make fun of them or bond over their mutual hatred for the person. He’s not even sure if he wants to know. It wouldn’t be the first time people talked shit about him behind his back but for some reason, he didn’t want to hear it from Renjun.

Jeno immediately back-pedalled and walked back to the counter before he could hear Renjun’s answer. There was no way he could do this. It would be too awkward. He wasn’t ready to face them without at least a few hours of mental preparation beforehand. The café was otherwise deserted and he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to abandon his post for a minute. He quickly took his apron off and ran up the stairs to their living quarters, rushing over to his sister who was lying on the sofa watching TV.

He thrust the apron towards her. “Go.”

“What the fuck? No,” she replied, scowling. “Move, I’m trying to watch something shithead.”

“Please,” Jeno begged, not even trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

His sister looked at him like he was crazy.

“Don’t ask questions,” he said, slipping the apron onto her and pushing her towards the stairs.

“You’re a fucking weirdo Jeno Lee. You owe me one,” she scowled but obliged anyway. He walked back down the stairs to the café an hour later when he heard the door’s tell-tale jingle again signalling their departure. 

His very giddy sister was humming with excitement near the counter.

“You’re never going to believe who came to our café.  _ Na Jaemin _ and  _ Huang Renjun _ ,” She laughed like she’d won the lottery.

His sister whipped out her phone and opened Instagram, showing the selfie she’d taken with them throwing peace signs in the background. Renjun looked shy and sitting slightly too close to him was Jaemin with that same practised and perfected expression on his face. After seeing a glimpse of the loud, carefree Jaemin he could no longer look at this poised and controlled one the same way again. He looked like a different person.

“Were you allowed to post that?” Jeno frowned.

His sister shrugged. “Yeah, I asked them and they seemed pretty chill with it as long as I kept the location private. Actually, they were the ones that suggested I even post it in the first place.”

Jeno’s frown deepened. He thought back to Yangyang’s words from that afternoon.

_ “All publicity tends to be good publicity and it's especially good publicity when the headlines pair Renjun with the president’s son. You can’t deny it’s a smart move.” _

He looked back at his sister’s post and eyed the hundreds of thousands of likes it had already gotten with the countless comments underneath.

It was 2am and he couldn’t sleep. He’d tried calling Mark but it had gone to straight to voicemail and he supposed that was fair enough. Even if Mark had picked up he wasn’t sure what he had wanted to say.

Rolling over in his bed, Jeno picked his phone back up from the nightstand. It wasn’t a Huang Electronics model because they couldn’t afford that even though that’s all everyone seemed to use these days regardless of how much money they owned. His mind wandered to Renjun.

_ “Say… What do you think of Jeno?”  _ Jaemin’s voice was crisp in his memory and he forced himself to not think about it.

After a moment of hesitation, he pulled up an incognito web browser and typed in  _ ‘Huang Renjun Na Jaemin’.  _ One million search results loaded. The first page was flooded with that same photo of them smiling in the background, as his sister posed, leaning close enough to each other to draw attention but far apart enough for it to still be dismissible. Many sites had tried to crop his sister out and he doesn’t blame them - he would have done the same. He opened another tab and typed,  _ ‘How do stocks work?’  _ Sue Jeno for not understanding the lingo too well – he wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. He’d never needed to know and so he’d never learnt. But having spent a month at SM Academy, he noticed everyone open the stock market app like they were opening twitter, looking eagerly for the latest trends and buying shares like they were casually online shopping. A ten-minute video and a Wikipedia page later, he didn’t really understand much more but he understood enough to be able to fact check Yangyang. After his sister had posted that photo, HE stock prices had increased dramatically.

Were they really just acting close for attention? Jeno knew nothing of their world but Yukhei and Yangyang had talked about it like it was a common business strategy.

He then opened a third tab.  _ ‘How to tell if two people are dating’ _ He backspaced before he could hit search and switched off his phone. What Renjun and Jaemin decided to do or not do in their spare time was none of his business.

He didn’t even know why it bothered him so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeno is just one confused human being who doesn't understand feelings or shares. It's me. I'm Jeno.
> 
> At this point Jeno's sister has made more of an appearance than Jisung... rip.  
(but that's going to be fixed next chapter :0 )
> 
> Let me know what you think of the mess that was this chapter! ♡


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark is lying, Jisung is not okay, and the Dream hosts never cared much for rules anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you really thought i'd let my baby boy Jisung be a minor character? haha sike

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Jeno didn’t really feel like facing Jaemin and Renjun the next day after knowing they were talking bad about him behind his back. It shouldn’t bother him, they were barely friends and he shouldn’t be surprised with their reputation but he doesn’t want to face them anyway. He’d get over it but he just needs some time. So it’s just as well when he gets a text from an unknown number saying Dream Host Club was cancelled that evening. 

When he’d asked Mark about it, Mark had told him that the text was from the club’s manager and that Haechan had mentioned in passing to him that Chenle had hired him out of boredom. Jeno didn’t really understand how someone could decide to employ and pay another person because they were  _ bored _ but then again he didn’t really understand a lot of the things the students at SM Academy did. 

Case in point – last week Jungwoo had complained extensively about having to hire a new  _ maid _ because his last one had tried to steal one of his mother’s Gucci bags. 

“I really liked Taeil. I don’t see why she couldn’t have just let him have the bag,” he had huffed.

Jeno appreciated his friends, but it would be a lie to say he felt like he belonged. They were nothing but kind and accommodating to him but the difference in their worlds was just painfully obvious and that made a barrier that was hard to cross. 

It was now lunch-break and most of them had left to clubs they’d signed up to. Yukhei, Xiaojun and Yangyang had left to archery club, Jungwoo had gone to cheese-tasting society (because apparently, that was a thing), and Mark had once again excused himself to leave for the A Cappella band rehearsals. Jeno had checked their school website and he was sure this time that SM Academy didn’t even  _ have _ an A Cappella group but Mark ran off before Jeno could follow him to find out just where the fuck he kept disappearing off to. 

Jeno wasn’t ready to commit to anything yet. He barely had time outside of juggling school-work, working at the café, and going to the host club so he’d not signed up to anything more. He had admittedly walked past the mafia role-play society once out of sheer curiosity, but then immediately regretted that when a member had approached him with a suspiciously authentic-looking skull in his hand. (Xiaojun had later told him that it had indeed been a real skull and shrugged casually explaining that Guangheng had a license to collect human skulls and so he did. Yukhei had laughed for ten minutes straight at Jeno’s horrified expression.)

The main school building was mostly empty around lunch because the cafeteria was in another building and everyone who wasn’t eating or at a club was usually at the croquet pitches or the games room.

He needed to clear his head and maybe call his old friends; He missed them. Jeno made his way through the front doors of the building and let his feet carry him to wherever, relishing in the same silence and emptiness of the large space that had intimidated him when he'd seen it for the first time.

He somehow ended up in the same corridor as he had on the first day when he’d been looking for the reception. He hadn’t come here since then because none of his lessons were in this wing of the building and he’d honestly not known how to get back here. Like some weird sense of déjà vu, he heard a whine from a classroom to his left.

Jeno froze, his mind promptly reminding him of what he’d seen last time. With incredible caution, he stepped closer to a window in the room, ready to bolt if he saw anyone doing…  _ that _ , again.

His stiffened when he realised the noise had been coming from a lone boy crying on the floor in a corner of the otherwise empty classroom. The boy’s face was tucked into his legs, which he’d brought close to his body, curling up into a ball. The sniffling continued and Jeno’s heart shattered. His feet were already moving towards the door and into the classroom before the rational part of his mind could reason that the boy probably came there to be alone and that Jeno probably couldn’t do anything to help.

He leaned down hesitantly, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder to ask if he was okay. The figure on the floor immediately jumped in surprise, the boy turning up to look at Jeno with a terrified expression on his face.

“Jisung…?” Jeno asked in confusion. He knew this face very well. Everyone did.

Jisung immediately seemed to panic, eyeing the corridor behind Jeno to check if anyone had heard him, bringing his fingers up over his lips to indicate for Jeno to be quiet.

“It's just me…” Jeno whispered. He clearly didn’t want anyone else to know that he was here. That was fine. Jeno could understand that.

The boy next to him stopped crying and they both just sat in silence for a few minutes before Jisung spoke in a small voice.

“Please don’t tell anyone you saw me like this.”

Jeno didn't know Jisung very well but his heart ached for him. He had no idea why Jisung had been crying but it was painful to think his first reaction was not to explain why he was sad but to be scared of what others would think.

“I won’t,” Jeno confirmed and the boy next to him visibly relaxed even though he still looked uncomfortable. “What happened?” Jeno asked quietly, not sure if he was crossing boundaries by asking.

Jisung turned to look at him, his eyes were unreadable and it was as if he was trying to gauge if Jeno really cared. Then he teared up all over again and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Jeno panicked. “Hey, hey, hey, it's okay,” he whispered in what he hoped was a comforting tone. He had no idea if it was okay but he’d promise just about anything to Jisung right now if it meant he’d stop crying. Jeno awkwardly circled his arms around the shoulders of the boy who immediately slumped into him, crying into Jeno’s blazer. Jeno let him get it all out, his sobs gradually growing quieter with the growing dampness against Jeno's clothes.

A voice rang out from the corridor. 

“Jisung?” And then some footsteps. “Jisung, I know you’re here somewhere.”

Jisung panicked again, shifting himself to crouch behind Jeno as if trying to hide from view just as a very distressed looking Jaemin came to stand outside the classroom door. Jaemin’s tie was askew and his hair sticking up in different directions as if he’d run his fingers through it multiple times in frustration. To top off the look, his eyes were red and sunken as if he’d not slept at all and had instead been crying. Jeno had never thought he’d see him like this.

“Jeno…?” Jaemin asked uncertainly. His eyes changed from an expression of confusion to relief when he noticed the outline of a figure behind Jeno.

“Oh thank god, Jisung.” He rushed forward, completely ignoring Jeno in favour of scooping up the younger boy into his arms.

“You’re okay, I’ve got you,” Jaemin whispered into the boy’s hair. Jeno noticed his eyes tear up. “I just called Taeyong-hyung. He’s visiting later this week,” Jaemin said. Jisung seemed to cry even harder at that. “You know he loves you. Let him be here for you - he’s your brother, Jisung.” If Jisung wasn’t wailing before, he definitely was now. Jaemin sat, as Jeno had before, slowly stroking Jisung’s hair until he calmed down again. When the room finally dipped into silence, Jaemin seemed to remember that Jeno was still there. 

He turned to face Jeno, eyes widening as he processed the situation. “Thank you…” he mumbled awkwardly, “…for being there for Jisungie.” Jeno had never seen him so tired and at such a loss for words. 

“Of course,” he replied and Jisung shot him a shy smile at that. 

They’d all gotten up when they’d noticed the clock indicating they only had around ten minutes of lunch left. Jaemin had put his foot down and point-blank refused to let Jisung attend lessons for the rest of the day. 

“You need to rest,” Jaemin had insisted. Jisung had whined at that, complaining that he couldn’t afford to catch up on work. “It’s not like you do the work in lessons anyway,” Jaemin replied teasingly, ruffling his hair. “I’ll just text Chenle, I’m sure he can get you the day off-“

Jisung panicked again. “Don’t.” He shook his head. “Please don’t tell him.”

Jaemin hesitated and Jeno watched a silent exchange of gazes between them that was unreadable to him but it clearly meant something to Jaemin who just sighed and agreed in the end. 

They started walking towards a building a few minutes outside of the school gates that Jeno had never seen before. Jaemin explained to him that it was the manor where boarding students stayed and told him that himself and Jisung usually lived there. Jeno hadn’t known that. 

They entered, greeting the housekeeper and walking into Jisung and Jaemin's shared bedroom which Jeno had audibly gasped at when seeing just how big it was. Jaemin had tucked Jisung into bed, smiling fondly and kissing his head before stepping back out. As soon as he shut the door and Jisung was out of sight, the smile immediately fell off his face and he looked like he was ready to cry. 

He absently reached for Jeno’s hand and started to walk back towards SM Academy. Jeno jolted at first, but when seeing just how lost the other boy looked he forced himself to relax into the touch.

“Jisungie…” Jaemin began, swallowing nervously. Jeno gave him time. “He gets like this whenever the bill comes for extending boarding stay.”

Jeno frowned, wondering if it was a financial issue - he would fully be able to understand that. Jaemin continued before he could muse his thought aloud.

“You know, with his family situation and stuff…” Jaemin stopped walking, looking into Jeno’s eyes searching for some sense of understanding. Jeno stared blankly back at him. 

“Jisung is adopted,” Jaemin said slowly. Jeno definitely hadn’t known that but from the way Jaemin had said it so matter-of-factly, he’d obviously expected Jeno to have. He could almost hear Yukhei in the distance groaning about how Jeno lived under a rock.

“His parents are really busy and they’re rarely home so he stays here, kind of like me.” Jaemin laughed bitterly. “His brother, Taeyong, always offers for Jisung to live with him but Jisung refuses because he thinks he’s burdening him and that his family only look out for him out of obligation,” Jaemin finishes, his brow furrowing as his voice cracked. “And that’s not  _ true,  _ everyone loves him so deeply but he can’t see that.” 

Jeno didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know if it was his place to say anything. He just happened to be in a specific place at a specific time and that had somehow led to an emotional Jaemin confiding in him. Jaemin wasn’t talking to him because he was Jeno; he was talking to him because he happened to be there. 

Jeno squeezed his hand as a show of support and only then did Jaemin even seem to realise they were holding hands. He immediately pulled away as if he had been burned from the touch, and schooled his expression to a more controlled and calm one. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Jeno, that signature Jaemin smile plastered across his face. It looked so real. So convincing, that if Jeno hadn’t just seen him almost cry, he would have never known that maybe he wasn’t okay.

They walked back to school in silence.

Jaemin had remained quiet all through their last period. He'd always been relatively silent in lessons, never volunteering answers, but usually, he'd whisper to and exchange quiet laughs with Haechan and Renjun who sat near him. Today, he simply stared blankly at the board, twirling his pen absently and smiling that same standard smile of his every time anyone looked in his direction. Jeno wanted to say or do something, but he didn't know what. If he'd learned anything from today, it was that he didn't know anything about the Dream host club members. How could he help if he didn't even know them? Besides, it's not like he was close to them. He didn't even know if he would be allowed to help.

At the end of their lesson, Jeno hesitantly walked past Jaemin, bumping into a very confused looking Chenle on his way out of their classroom. 

“Oh, hey Jeno!” the younger boy chirped. “I was actually looking for Jaemin-“ his eyes lit up as the boy in mention walked up behind Jeno. “Jaemin-hyung! Why didn’t you answer my texts? I was wondering if you knew where Jisung was? He didn’t come to class.” The boy pouted.

“Ah. He told me had a stomach ache and went to rest.” Jaemin lied easily, that same easy smile already back. 

“Oh.” Chenle frowned. “Does that mean he won’t be down for tonight?”

Jaemin laughed, leaning forward to pinch Chenle’s cheeks. “I somehow think he’ll be okay by then.” Chenle instantly perked up and Jaemin's mood also seemed to pick up at their discussion of the evening's events.

"That's true. It always cheers him up," Chenle snickered and Jaemin hummed in agreement.

“What’s happening tonight?” Jeno asked quietly.

Renjun appeared behind them then, his arms naturally sliding around Jaemin’s waist, the latter leaning into the touch. “What’s happening tonight, did you ask?” he smirked. 

Jeno nodded, unsure.

“Just some arts and crafts. We occasionally take time off from the host club to team bond and stuff. It’s a tradition of ours.” Renjun said, but his devilish smile suggested there was something more to it he wasn’t saying.

“Why don’t you join us?” Chenle asked, his eyes panning to Jaemin for approval. Jaemin simply shrugged. 

Jeno felt wary. There was definitely something they weren’t telling him. 

“Please?” Renjun said, practically purring and that’s all it took. That’s all it ever takes. 

“Sure,” he found himself agreeing before he could even think it through. 

Chenle squealed at that, throwing his arms around Jeno and prattling on about how excited he was. If Jeno noticed Jaemin and Renjun glare at them hugging, he ignored it.

They split up to go home first. He’d been told to meet them back outside the Academy at nine and to wear black clothes. Jeno doesn’t really understand why but he’s long stopped questioning SM Academy’s students and their peculiar hobbies and dress codes.

He went home to tell his parents he’d be out late working on a group project. Renjun had said it was team bonding so he wasn’t exactly lying. His parents could care less, simply happy that he was making friends to which Jeno had replied emphasising that he was going to  _ work _ and not to hang out with friends.

Truth be told, Jeno had no fucking clue what he was going to be doing. He didn’t know why arts and crafts would require an all-black fit at 9pm and now that he was home and warm, he was reluctant to go back outside. He had promised Renjun though and he hates breaking his word so quickly grabs his blue coat, changing it last minute for a black jacket and leaves the house.

The autumn breeze was sharp and he slipped his hands into his pockets to stop the air from nipping at his fingers. Jeno stuck out like a sore thumb in head-to-toe black against the landscape of fiery hues. He walked, letting his mind drift. At first it was a peaceful sort of drifting as his thoughts wandered about the leaves falling around him and the strangers passing by him, but in the end, like it always seemed to be doing these days, he ended up thinking about Jisung and by extension  _ Jaemin _ .

They’d both looked so shaken earlier that day. Jeno could never, even in his wildest dreams have pictured such desperate and sorrowful expressions on their faces. He had just assumed that they were always relatively happy. He didn’t realise there was any reason for them to not be. They weren’t just rich, they were dripping in the sort of money that Jeno couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Other than that, they also had the entire world in their palms, every door open for them, every person bowing down to them. It was the kind of life Jeno couldn’t even dare to dream about for himself. He thought if you had that much in your hands, you surely had to be the happiest person alive. Now he’s not so sure anymore. He’s not sure of anything.

He was broken out of his reverie by the loud blaring of a car horn. He jumped in surprise, whipping around to notice a matte-black Maserati with one window rolled down to show a smirking Jaemin at the wheel. 

“You look good in black,” he yelled out to Jeno, his expression as flirty as always. Jeno ignored him in favour of gawking at the car.

“Oh my god, can I touch it?” he whispered in shock, walking forward to touch the hood, eyes widening. 

“Jeno stop being a loser and get in the car.” Renjun’s voice came with no bite in his words. 

That’s when Jeno noticed Chenle in the front next to Jaemin, and Jisung and Renjun in the back. He slowly walked around to the passenger seat, taking his time to admire the Maserati before Renjun finally pulled him in, rolling his eyes.

“You can touch it from the inside,” he laughed.

As soon as he was seated, Renjun leaned over him to pull the seatbelt over his body, his breath fanning across Jeno’s cheeks. Jeno had the decency to look embarrassed. He looked everywhere, but at Renjun, catching Jaemin’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Jaemin took notice of his flushed cheeks and chuckled.

“Come on, before Jaehyun-hyung finds us again,” Chenle whined and that’s when Jeno noticed the bodyguard was absent.  _ Had they run from him? _ “Let’s go-o-o,” Chenle droned and they took off. 

Jaemin was back to his laughing self, the melancholy that had hung to him that afternoon supposedly having faded away. This was the version of him that Jeno had seen in their café - the version of him that was reserved for when there weren’t cameras and the gazes of strangers all around him. He liked this Jaemin better.

After twenty minutes of driving, Jeno started to grow wary again. 

“Where’s Haechan?” he slowly asked.

“Oh, he’s not here because he could lose his career if he got caught doing… arts and crafts,” Renjun replied mysteriously. Jisung burst out laughing. While Jeno was glad Jisung seemed to be doing better than he had been earlier on in the day, he didn't understand what there was to laugh about.

Jeno had a feeling they weren’t going to be doing arts and crafts at all.

Another ten minutes passed during which Chenle and Jisung spent the entire time arguing over what song to listen to, constantly switching between MCR and Red Velvet, until Renjun snapped and just switched off the speakers altogether. 

“We’re here,” Jaemin announced and was rewarded with a small round of cheers. 

Before Jeno could do anything, Renjun started handing out black masks to everyone.

“Its best you put this on,” he said cryptically.

“Uh- guys. What are we going to be doing, exactly?”

Renjun took the mask from Jeno’s hands, his fingers brushing across Jeno’s. He leaned over him, face far too close to Jeno’s own. His mind blanked, all questions at the tip of his tongue suddenly dissipating as all he could focus on was  _ Renjun _ who was looking at him,  _ Renjun _ who's body heat radiated to him from their closeness. The smaller boy pulled the two bands over Jeno’s ears, covering the lower half of his face and effectively shutting him up in the process. Then he pulled back and as sudden as the warmth of their proximity had come, it was gone again.

They all opened the doors to step out, Jaemin pressing the button on his keys to lock the car.

Jeno looked around him and noticed they were in front of a familiar-looking Mansion with a blue-tiled roof, surrounded by an acre of land littered with neatly trimmed trees.

Jisung opened his bag and Jeno turned to him as the smell of paint wafted into the air around him. 

Oh no.

Grasped tightly in Jisung’s hands were bottles of graffiti paint. He tossed two to Jaemin and Renjun who caught them with a worryingly practised gesture.

“Give me blue, Jisung. Last time I had yellow and it barely showed up,” Chenle whined.

_ Last time? _

_ _

Jisung turned to Jeno then. “Red or Green?” he asked.

Jeno shook his head rapidly, trying to will away the situation. He was a people-pleaser. The most daring thing he’d ever done was drink cough syrup when he wasn’t ill because he liked the taste. He’d once cried because he’d fed the pigeons and then later noticed a sign saying you shouldn’t feed the pigeons. 

“This is  _ vandalism _ ,” he hissed, his voice barely above a whisper because he was scared of getting caught.

Renjun laughed at him, calling him cute. Jeno pointedly ignored that comment.

“It’s not vandalism if the property belongs to me, Jeno,” Jaemin said, his eyes dancing in mirth and excitement.

Jeno’s head snapped back to the mansion as it finally clicked why it had looked so familiar. 

_ _

_ Oh no. _

This was the president’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> would this even be a ohshc au if it didn't have wild plot arcs?
> 
> if you've made it this far you've probably realised this is a crack fic disguised as a romcom. hendery collecting skulls? Jungwoo cheese-tasting? Dream vandalising the president of SK's house? w a c k
> 
> As always, kudos and comments motivate me ♡


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